The current embodiments relate to an actuator for aviation applications, in particular for a rotor blade adjustment, comprising an electromechanical drive unit, which is connected with an output drive via a downstream gearbox, wherein the drive unit is divided into partial drives that can be operated independently from one another.
Actuators are used in aircrafts for converting control instructions of a pilot into appropriate control functions. For example, actuators are provided for rotor blade adjustments in helicopters and initiate in the range of a swashplate its specific axial displacement to a rotor mast, as well as its transverse inclination to the rotor mast which, in the first case, allows for the realization of a collective pitch and, in the second case, a cyclic pitch of the rotor blades. Because of the fact that depending on the control instructions to be converted by the actuators their failure in worst case scenario can result in a crash of the respective aircraft, actuators have to be designed in the form of redundant systems that ensure at least a reduced functional capacity even in the event of failure of individual components.
US 2010/0150719 A1 discloses an actuator for a rotor blade adjustment in a helicopter, wherein this actuator consists of an electromechanical drive unit and a downstream gearbox. At the same time, the drive unit is designed in the form of a redundant, multiphase electric motor, which combines in one housing multiple partial drives that can be operated independently from one another.
Based on the prior art described above, the present embodiments have the object of providing an actuator for aviation applications, which is characterized by low susceptibility to damage and thus high reliability.